New Year

Ahhh....The holidays are over. 2011 is off to a start with "regular programming" Kodiak weather--rain and 40's with some wind. We were blessed with incredible weather in December...tons of good cross country skiing. The kids have really taken to cross country skiing. I look forward to more snow to take them on.

With a 3 day weekend underway, yesterday I got motivated to get new fabric for future quilts. When I went fabric shopping, I learned some disappointing news...one of the stores, Just Janes, is closing down in 3 months. This made me glum. Just Janes is like a candy store for the eyes. I love her fabrics and her energy for quilting.

Jane hosts lots of quilting classes and teenagers into quilting. She gets people excited about working with fabric and takes the intimidation factor out of it. Since I've started quilting (5 years ago...I think), Just Janes has been here. I remember the first time I walked into her store when it was still in her home, I was in awe. My hope is that someone buys the store. If it closes down, I"m really going to miss her fun, floral, vintage fabrics.

I decided to make a quilt for our couch in our kitchen. With winter, I've been cuddling up lots on the couch either reading books to the kids, drinking coffee or reading in the evening. It was fun to pick out fabrics for it-as this is the first quilt I've made for our home. I've almost completed the top of it in one day--easy pattern.

The kids go back to preschool on Monday after a 2 week break, and I think getting back to their normal routine will be good. Seems like Nora and Stuey getting a little more time away from eachother will be a good thing. Nora has been looking forward to preschool resuming, which is good. She only goes 3 mornings a week, but its nice to hear her excited about it. I've started a homeschool curriculum (Oakmeadow) with Nora and Stuey and the first week has gone well. It is all very fun and we spend about 1 hour a day on it. I like the routine and rhythm to the curriculum. I even look forward to it-as it is a nature based program. Nora had recently been saying, "I'm bored" so I thought we needed a little something more structured for her at home this semester and during the summer.

Zoya